What is faith? What does it mean to have faith and how does it manifest?
These are the questions Thomas Hammond, pastor of First Baptist Church, Alpharetta, Ga., posed to participants of the 2015 Alabama Baptist State Evangelism Conference.
Seeking to glorify Jesus and “encourage my dear fellow pastors,” Hammond tackled the issue of faith as the foundation of evangelism for every person, church and ministry.
“Faith is visible (but) it is in the invisible. When we have faith in the invisible God our faith is real.
“Faith is how you make transactions in heaven. You have to be willing to put yourself in a position of being vulnerable, of putting it all on the line for God to say, ‘I see your faith.’”
With firm demands, faith “thrusts us into action” and in doing so imparts the power of God, he said.
“If [you] just sit back and do what [you’ve] always done, [you’re] going to get the same thing [you’ve] always gotten. … We haven’t attempted anything bigger than us in a long time, Church.”
Each church’s ministries have to reflect the need of the community to get the community to Jesus, Hammond said. The problem isn’t that churches don’t have ministries, he said, it’s that the ministries are for the members and not for the lost.
Meeting needs
“When we see there’s a need and we’re willing to adjust our church and ministries to meet people at their point of need what we’re going to see is transformation.”
Such a transformation was exactly what happened at First, Alpharetta, when it began looking for ways to love its community. A little more than a year ago the church began an initiative called “Impact” that seeks to reach its city for Christ. The initiative began with prayer walking every street in Alpharetta and then moved to praying for every city employee. Thank-you notes to each employee followed and Hammond began receiving positive feedback from the community.
“Every time we changed the focus of our prayer God just began opening more and more doors.”
While on their prayer walking routes church members prayed for “God to give us eyes to see needs” so they could exercise faith, Hammond said.
It was during that prayer walking journey that a group found Marietta Street, which houses 18 Hispanic families. “That was (now) our street,” Hammond said.
By searching for practical ways to minister to this street — such as through tutoring programs and hosting a Christmas program — First, Alpharetta, launched a Hispanic ministry.
“It was so amazing how everything transitioned.”
Hammond knows of two Hispanic men who have been called into the ministry from this group and “baptisms are happening all the time.” This ministry has its own Sunday School classes and it will have its very first solo service on Palm Sunday morning.
And it all started with faith-led prayer.
“Evangelism is red hot right now. … There are plenty of people right now in Alabama who need Jesus and they need a church that has faith.”
Look for opportunities
Hammond encouraged every layperson and pastor in the congregation to take a fresh look at their community and look for opportunities to be Christ to their area.
“Just imagine the possibilities of great faith,” he said. “Let’s go win people to Jesus.”
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